Botanical Gardens

    The Noosa Botanic Gardens are located on the shores of Lake Macdonald, a short drive from the hinterland town of Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast Queensland. The gardens comprise eight hectares of native and exotic plant species, within which, you'll find an open air bush chapel, fern house, lily pond, large lawn areas and winding paths leading to picnic areas and a grecian style ampitheatre. All this is surrounded by an abundance of wildlife.

Water Lilly

Daisy with Wasp

    The Lake Macdonald Amphitheatre is a magnificent Greek style outdoor theatre built as a result of the tireless work of the late Ida Duncan in about 1995. It has a wonderful natural acoustic, making it ideal for outdoor opera and music events.

Noosa Amphitheatre on Lake Mcdonald

Reflections on Lake Mcdonald

Waterlilly and reflection

Lonely Dewdrop on Flower

Bird of Paradise

Poppy and Family of Ants

Gardens in Flower

Purple Daisy

Kangaroo Paw

Pair of Water Lillies

Fishing in Australia

Beach Fishing         

    Australia is fortunate in possessing some of the finest beaches in the world, and with them, excellent fishing. The ever changing formation of our beaches due to natural forces provides both shelter and food for a variety of fish.

Beach Fishing Yaroomba

Fishing the Gutter

   A gutter is recognised as a channel of deeper waters  you can see a dark blue or green colour, and typically runs parallel with the beach. It is caused by an outer sand bank behind it which causes waves to break early and whitewash to follow. This whitewash  flows over the gutter, providing cover for fish and stirring up the bottom exposing food. Gutters are variable in length and can have an outlet back to the sea at one or both ends. Fish usually enjoy foraging for food near these outlets since the back and forth motion of water also stirs up food.

     Position yourself near the mouth and allow the bait to drift with the run from the gutter. Potholes are the small indentations which form in the shallower water, often near the edge of the beach. Anglers often wade through them, not knowing that they can offer some geed fishing. Whiting, Dart and Flathead actively feed in this shallow water, so it often pays to try these areas before disturbing them.

The Fish

Bream and Tailor

Bream fishing in Australia is a big time activity. Fly-fishing for bream is a popular , as well as surf fishing on the coast with cut baits , and it's  not uncommon in the cooler months to catch bream up to 1.5kg. Now, a fish that big is a decent fish anyway, but tack on the fact that these little buggers are as feisty as it gets, and you've got a real fight on your hands, especially if you are using light tackle.

Tailor a saltwater fish which has different names in various countries. In the United States it is called bluefish, while in South Africa, it is known as elf. Here in Australia, anglers usually call it tailor  or use its popular nicknames of "chopper" or "green back".

   

   Flathead are found in shallow estuaries and lakes and inhabit streams as far upstream as the tidal limits, but they often are found in freshwater. They are also found offshore on sandy or gravel bottoms and seagrass beds. Flathead are a lazy fish who lie partly covered in mud or sand.

Chambers Island

Flathead Chambers Island

Snapper Caught Off the Sunshine Coast

Pincushion Island at Dawn

Pumicestone Passage Fishing the Channel

   Bays and Estuaries

 

     Fishing Australia  for a wide variety of species that can often be found in large numbers.When fishing bays and estuaries look for drop-offs, channels and weed beds as these areas will hold concentrations of fish. Whether you are drifting or anchored in a boat or fishing from the shore, these areas are great places to find a wide variety of fish species.

    A popular place to fish for bream in Australia is in bays and estuaries. They like to hang around rugged, rocky spots such as jetties and around piers and sunken logs anything that will afford them some protection.

Fishing trip Bribie

Fishing 1770

Bait at Noosa River

Currimundi Lakes

Bribie Island Fishing at Dusk

Centaur and Caloundra

Centaur Memorial Caloundra

The tanker in the distance to the left of the memorial is around where the Centaur now lays.

      On 12 May 1943 Centaur sailed  from Sydney at 0945 hours carrying her crew and normal staff, as well as stores and equipment of the 2/12th Field Ambulance but no patients. It was sunk without warning by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine on 14 May 1943 at approximately 0400 hours.

  Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived. These survivors spent 35 hours on rafts before being rescued. Sister Ellen Savage, the only one of twelve nursing sisters on board to survive, though injured herself, gave great help to the other survivors and was awarded the George Medal for this work. 

     Australian Government delivered an official protest to Japan over the incident. The Japanese did not acknowledge responsibility for the incident for many years and the War Crimes Tribunal could not identify the responsible submarine. However, the Japanese official war history makes clear that it was submarine 1-177, under the command of Lt Commander Nakagawa who had sunk the  Centaur 

Centaur Today

   A search team  led by David Mearns in 2009 found Centaur located about 30 nautical miles off the southern tip of Moreton Island, off Queensland’s south-east coast.

 Caloundra and the Pumicestone Passage

      The Pumicestone Passage is seething with wildlife both above and below the sparkling blue expanse before you. Formed by a 35km channel, which runs between Bribie Island and the Caboolture coastline, Pumicestone Passage is a protected marine park and safe haven for wildlife.

Sailboarding on Pumicestone Passage

It boasts more bird species than Kakadu so birdwatchers will revel in a day out on the water.

Across Pumicestone Passage to Caloundra

Fishing the aqua waters

Looking up to Point Cartwright from Caloundra

Boating Pumicestone Passage